The Next Generation
by Mogombo97
Summary: Slightly A/U but mostly cannon. Meredith was raised by her Ellis with Richard who adopted her. she grew up with Maggie. The plane crash happened but nobody died. Derek is also still alive. Story covers Zola and Sofia as they become interns in Seattle Grace Mercy West. Also covers the lives of all the other main characters from the show. better than it sounds. (I hope)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This is my first multi-chapter fic for Greys Anatomy. It is slightly A/U but does follow a lot of cannon. While the story follows Zola and Sofia as they start their internship it will also follow the older generation of Doctors as well. Please feel free to leave a review. I hope you enjoy.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any part of the Greys Anatomy universe. All rights belong to Shonda Rhimes, ABC studios and any parent or subsidiary companies of ABC. No copyright infringement is intended. Any similarities to other works on this site or any other site are purely coincidental and not done with any malicious intent. All original characters are of my own creation.

Never before in their lives had Sofia and Zola been so scared to enter the front doors of Seattle Grace Mercy West. They spent most of their lives inside the hospital when they were growing up.

Today was different though, today they weren't entering as the children of Doctors. Today they were going in as the Doctors.

Checking her watch and seeing the time as 05:50, Zola turned to her cousin and said,

"We should head in or we are going to be late, we of all people can't be late. We can't give anyone any reason to think we are getting preferential treatment"

"You're right, come on"

The two new Doctors made their way into the hospital, down the familiar halls, seeing all the familiar faces, hearing the sounds that used soothe them to sleep as young children.

After what felt like an eternity they made it to the intern locker room. They always knew that their locker room wouldn't be as nice or as comfortable as the Attendings lounge they were used to, but the Intern's space made them feel like they were back in High School.

"I see two lockers over there Sof" pointed Zola towards what looked like the last two empty lockers in the room.

Making their way over they pretended not to see the stares or hear the whispers.

"That's Zola Grey-Shepherd, her mom is THE Meredith Grey Chief of General and her Dad is THE Derek Shephard who is in charge of the Brain-mapping initiative. He has like four separate methods named after him."

"The one she is with is Sofia Robbin Sloan-Torres, you know Robbin for Arizona Robbins, Chief of Neonatal Surgery, Sloan as in Mark Sloan Chief of Plastics, Torres as in Callie Torres Chief of Orthopedic Surgery"

"You know her Step-Mom is Lexie Grey, right hand to Amelia Shepherd Chief of Neurosurgery"

"I bet they will get all the good surgeries because their parents own the place"

Zola and Sofia looked at each other and laughed and started having their own conversation loud enough that they were sure everyone could hear them.

"Guess the secret is out huh Zo"

"You're right, I just hope they don't find out about the rest of our family or they might have a heart attack"

"At least then one of them might need surgery and I'm sure we convince Aunt Maggie to let us preform it."

"I didn't think of that Sof, I mean it's not as if Aunt Bailey would mind, she already promised us both solo surgeries this week"

The two girls were trying so hard not to laugh, probably would have been successful if some guy half their size who looked like he spent most his life being shoved inside lockers hadn't taken it all too far and got up in their face.

"I bet the two of you didn't even get your Doctorate, probably had Mommy and Daddy buy them for you, probably think you will be able to float through the program, well guess what I am going to run circles around the both of you"

Before anyone could say anything Dr. Webber walked into the room.

"Alright Doctors, I'm sure you've had a chance to start becoming acquainted with each other. Let's go"

Richard stood at the door and waited as every one filed out of the room and winked at Zola and Sofia as they were the last to pass. He had heard all the gossiping and was proud of the way his Granddaughter and a girl he looked at as a surrogate grandchild handled themselves.

Richard led them through the hospital and gave them a brief tour of each department and answered questions the new doctors had.

When he got to OR1 he led them inside.

"Each of you comes here today hopeful, wanting in on the game. A month ago, you were in med school being taught by Doctors, Today, you are the Doctors.

The seven years you spend here as a surgical resident will be the best and worst of your life. You will be pushed to the breaking point.

Look around you, say hello to your competition. Eight of you will switch to an easier specialty. Five of you will crack under the pressure. Two of you will be asked to leave.

This is your starting line. This is your arena. How well you play…that's up to you"

Richard looked out onto the faces of his new Intern class, this was always his favourite time of year. Most attendings and senior residents hated having new Interns because they were sloppy, had no idea what they were doing and had to be trained.

Like chicks and ducks, left to their own devices they would drown. He however loved having a new class to train, pass on the wisdom passed onto him before and continue the standards he set years ago when he was Chief of Surgery.

Most of the faces were looking at him except for one. One of them was attempting to whisper something to the person next to him.

"Up to us? yeah right, more like up to who we are related to, those two will have everything easy to them while the rest of us have to fight for every bit of scraps we can find"

Looking dead into the eyes of the man who decided to show how ignorant he was, Richard decided to set an example.

"You down the back, Dr. Brown is it?"

Everyone followed Dr. Webber's gaze to the man who looked as if he was about to be the first of the new class to pass out.

"Ye-ye-yes sir"

"I would think given your grades in med school and how you barely scraped a position in this program by the skin of your teeth, you would put your head down and work hard to prove you deserve the chance you were given instead of acting like an idiot"

"Ye-yes sir, sorry sir"

With a nod, Webber once more brought his attention to everyone in the room.

"Let me make myself clear. I will say this once and once only so pay attention. Every single one of you were vetted hard to be allowed into this program. As I'm sure you are aware Seattle Grace Mercy West has the number one surgical residency in the country.

Just because you were accepted in does not mean you will stay. It doesn't matter who are, who you aren't, who you know, and who you don't. You will all be judged and monitored rigorously on your performance.

Anybody, and I mean anybody who does not fit in with this program will be dropped without any emotion or hesitation. This isn't gym class in school where who gets picked first versus who gets picked last is based on popularity.

This is the real world. You are real Doctors and will hold the lives of real people in your hands. People come from all over the world to be cared for by our award winning, world class Doctors. Work hard, work smart and I along with my colleagues will train you to become the next generation of surgeons. Simple as that.

Now go back to the locker rooms and wait for your residents to find you"

On their way back to the locker room most people were unusually quiet. Zola and Sofia were beginning to feel like the Plague.

"They're just jealous, and after Dr. Webber's speech kind of scared. Just ignore them, they'll come around…or they won't"

Zola laughed at what the doctor who was walking beside her said.

"Thanks"

"Don't mention it, I'm Anastasia Williams"

Shaking the extended hand and smiling, Zola introduced herself and Sofia.

"I'm Zola Grey-Shepherd, this is Sofia Sloan-Torres, although after earlier I guess you know that already"

"Yeah, but it is nice to officially meet you"

"Nice to meet you too Anastasia"

The three of them made their way to meet their resident.

"Brown, Grey-Shepherd, Johnson, Sloan-Torres, Williams, with me"

The guy they recognised as Dr. Brown, another guy who they presumed to be Dr. Johnson who happened to be the small guy who got in their faces earlier joined the three of them on their way to meet their resident.

"My name is Dr. Sanchez and I will be your resident this year. I have five rules. Follow them you will succeed, don't and you will be out on your ass before you can say surgery.

Rule number one, don't bother sucking up I already hate you. That's not going to change. Here are your trauma protocols, phone list and pagers. Nurses will page you. You answer every page at a run. A run.

That's rule number two. Your first shifts starts now and lasts 16 hours. You're interns, grunts, nobodies, bottom of the surgical food chain.

You run labs, write orders, work every second night until you drop and don't complain. Attendings hog on call rooms, sleep when you can, where you can. Which brings me to rule three, if I am sleeping do not wake me unless your patient is actually dying.

Rule number four, the dying patient better not be dead when I get there. Not only will you have killed someone, you would have woken me for no reason. We clear?"

Slightly overwhelmed, and unbeknownst to her just like her mother before her, Zola raises her hand.

Looking irritated Sanchez acknowledged her with a slight nod.

"Yes Dr. Grey Shepherd?"

"You said five rules, that was only four"

Right on cue all their pagers went off at once and the all ran after Sanchez.

"Rule five, when I move, you move"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews, means a lot to me. Roganjalex with regards your review, I have plans for tuck to appear don't worry. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I apologise for any inaccuracies with regards medicine, I'm not a doctor so anything I have written in is from the first thing I find on the internet. I hope to have the next one up tomorrow. There may or may not be a certain European visitor next chapter, but definitely the one after if not.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any part of the Greys Anatomy universe. All rights belong to Shonda Rhimes, ABC studios and any parent or subsidiary companies of ABC. No copyright infringement is intended. Any similarities to other works on this site or any other site are purely coincidental and not done with any malicious intent. All original characters are of my own creation.

There were equal parts fear and excitement as they caught up with Dr. Sanchez. This was it, there first case.

"You can wipe the smirks off your faces, this isn't a case, we are going meeting the Chief of Surgery and the Chiefs of each department so they can warn all of you not to screw up"

"Oh, great we are going to Grey-Shepherd and Sloan-Torres' family reunion, I wonder if there will be cake"

At first it was funny but they hadn't been in the hospital two hours and all people could talk about was their family connections. Zola wasn't sure about Sofia but she for one had had enough of it.

"No Johnson there won't be because what you seem to fail to grasp is we are at work so there won't be cake, there won't be presents either. It is a formal introduction to our bosses, nota birthday party, so why don't you behave as such"

Listening to what Zola had to say Sanchez couldn't help but think that it was definitely Dr. Grey her new intern took after.

Deciding not to get involved unless she had to Sanchez just let it go and pretended not to hear anything. At least until she had to.

As they turned the corner Sofia saw all her family ahead of her and for the first time in her life actually felt fear.

The first person to speak was her Aunt Bailey.

"Good morning Doctors, for those of you who don't know my name is Miranda Bailey and I am Chief of Surgery here at Seattle Grace Mercy West.

My job is to make sure that your Attendings are doing their job in teaching you and the other residents.

If you work hard and do your jobs you will succeed and sore higher than you can imagine and it will be my pleasure to help you in any way I can.

Mess around and not listen and it will also be my pleasure in getting rid of you. Now the way things will work is your resident will be on a new service every day until all services are covered. By default, you will also be on a new service.

After every service is covered and you have had a chance to see the way each Chief runs their department, your resident will start assigning you a new service as they see fit"

Bailey looked around the room to make sure everyone was paying attention before continuing her speech. While nobody would know it, she was ecstatic to see Zola and Sofia amongst her new interns.

"Now so there is no confusion over who runs which service I will introduce you all to each Head of Department starting with those who are also members of the Board.

Dr. Meredith Grey, Chief of General, Board Director, Dr. Mark Sloan, Chief of Plastics, Board Director, Dr. Arizona Robbins, Chief of Neonatal, Board Director, Dr. Callie Torres, Chief of Orthopedic, Board Director, Dr. Alex Karev, Chief of Pead's, Board Member, Dr. Richard Webber, Chief of Residency Program, Board Director, Dr. Jackson Avery, Chief of the Otolaryngology Department, Chairman of the Board

Dr. Owen Hunt, Chief of Trauma, Dr. Catherine Avery, Chief of Urology, Dr. Amelia Shepherd, Chief of Neuro, Dr. Maggie Pierce, Chief of Cardio,

Dr. Kate Lachman Chief of OB/GYN, Dr. Tim Redmond, Chief of Derm, Dr. Jennifer Stanley, Chief of Path, Dr. Don Heller, Chief of Anaesthesiology, Dr. Rob Stanton Chief of Radiology

Also, here as members of the Board are Dr. Derek Shepherd, Neuro Attending, Chief of Brain Mapping Initiative and Dr. Lexie Grey, Neuro Attending.

These are the people who you will be reporting to, and who will teach you all they know. Listen, learn and practice and I promise you will one day be as good as them, or at least close to as good".

As each resident was assigned their service Zola and Sofia couldn't help but think about the fact that while they knew their family owned the hospital, and ran most of the departments. They never realised just how many department heads were comprised of them. There was a total of five doctors on that list that they weren't family.

"Alright guys we have been assigned to General. As Chief Bailey said, we report to Dr. M Grey. As I'm sure you noticed there are two Dr. Greys in the hospital so when paging Dr. Meredith Grey its M Grey, and you guessed it Dr. Lexie Grey is L Grey.

Before we find Dr. Grey I want to point out, she does not care how honoured you are to meet her, how much you admire her work or the fact you know how many Harper Avery's she has won. Just do your jobs speak when spoken to and don't embarrass me"

Sofia turned around to Anastasia, "Looks like we got the grumpy, shame I was hoping for happy"

Zola and Anastasia grinned, trying to supress chuckles.

"At least we didn't get dopey"

They all made their way over to Dr Grey.

"Sanchez, I have a Wipple scheduled in an hour, we are going to rounds on my patients and if your interns impress me you can scrub in"

"Yes Dr. Grey"

They all followed Meredith into the final patient's room after observing rounds on the first couple patients.

"Good morning Mr. Smith"

"Morning Dr. Grey"

"Sanchez, present"

"Mr. John Smith, 45 admitted last night with loss of appetite, high fever and nausea among other things. Scheduled for an appendectomy after lunch"

"Alright, interns. Aside from high fever, nausea, and lack of appetite what other symptoms would have made Dr. Kepner admit Mr. Smith here for appendicitis"?

Everyone stood still not wanting to be the first to answer. Zola knew the answer but didn't want to seem like she was getting special treatment from her mother. After a second she realised they were asked, not her fault if she knows the answers and the others don't.

"Abdominal swelling, inability to pass gas, vomiting and a dull pain near the upper abdomen that becomes sharp as it moves to the lower right abdomen"

"Thank you, Dr. Grey-Shepherd, well done."

Both Zola and Meredith would have been happy to leave it there but when the patient heard Zola's last name he was intrigued and looked to Meredith with a grey eyebrow raised causing his wrinkles in his forehead to become more visible.

"Dr. Grey-Shepherd you say, any relation to you Dr. Grey?"

For a split-second Meredith panicked, she knew both her daughter and niece were nervous about everyone thinking they were only in the program because of their last name. She was not however about to deny her daughter.

"Yes Mr. Smith, she is my daughter in fact"

"You're daughter? You certainly don't look old enough to have a daughter Dr. Grey"

Zola was starting to feel uncomfortable, and it had nothing to do with been known as her mother's child. Growing up she got used to seeing her dad flirt with her mom but seeing other men do it was just creepy and wrong on so many levels.

"Thank you, Mr. Smith, you're very kind"

Sensing Zola's discomfort as well as her own she moved on.

"How would Dr. Kepner have gone about diagnosing Mr. Smith"

Not wanting her cousin to be the only one to show off Sofia took the opportunity to answer.

"Abdominal exam to detect inflammation, urine test to rule out UTI, blood tests, rectal exam, CT scan or ultrasound"

"Nicely answered Dr. Sloan Torres"

"Can anyone tell me how I would go about preforming the surgery?"

Seeing her opportunity to join in the fun Anastasia decided to try and answer this question.

"Make the incision over McBurney's point down past the obliques. Follow the bowel down to the cecum, then trace the taenia down to the appendix. Use forceps to clamp off the appendix, use the scalpel to cut out the appendix"

"Very good Dr. Williams, however you left some parts out, can anyone tell me what she left out?"

"You need to use a clip to crush the base of the appendix before removing it in order to stop blood flow. You also need to suture any open wounds"

"Nicely done Dr. Grey-Shepherd"

"Your daughter knows her stuff huh Dr. Grey?"

"So far Mr. Smith, its only her first day though"

"First day, well congrats Dr. Grey Shepherd"

Zola smiled, it was nice to hear her mother's praise no matter how small as well as being complimented by her first patient.

"Thank you, Mr. Smith"

After they left the room Meredith gave the group her famous Medusa stare.

"Sanchez, not the worst performance from interns on a first day, you can scrub in on my Wipple later on, send your interns to the pit, I want them observing Mr. Smith's Appy afterwards"

"Yes Dr. Grey"

Meredith then focused her attention to the interns.

"Williams, nice work in there, you answered the most difficult question mostly right, a little more study and you'll have it. Grey-Shepherd, Sloan-Torres nicely done as well. Johnson and Brown, not good enough for this program. Next time I ask a question I expect you to know the answer"

With that she walked away to leave Sanchez to give assignments until lunch.

"Williams I need blood tests done in beds 1324 to 1335, Grey-Shepherd beds 1330 and 1356 need fluids administered as well as a central line in bed 1320. Sloan-Torres beds 1300-1324 need rectal exams.

Johnson, Brown seeing as you apparently need more time to study why don't you do that while charting. Report to Dr. Kepner in the pit afterwards If you need me page me.

After lunch you're scrubbing into observe Dr. Grey's appendectomy in OR4, don't be late.

Not happy with his task Johnson decided to speak out against it,

"Why am I not surprised the hospital royalty and their friend get actual work to do while we chart"

Not ever one to take her interns giving abuse Sanchez decided to put him in his place.

"Dr. Johnson need I remind you this is a hospital not high school, that kind of jealousy will get you nowhere.

Secondly the reason you are charting with Dr. Brown is because unlike Dr. Williams, Dr. Grey-Shepherd, and Dr. Sloan-Torres the two of you were too incompetent to answer any questions despite the fact you both apparently have doctorates.

Thirdly I don't care what ever personal opinions you might have of your colleagues but while in the walls of this hospital you will treat them with the same respect you would expect from them.

Lastly, that's strike one, you get three strikes before I make it my personal mission to see you out of this program. Do not second question the way I set assignments again, do I make myself clear?"

Johnson looked smaller now than he did this morning, which is saying something.

"Yes Dr. Sanchez, sorry Dr. Sanchez, it won't happen again"

"See that it doesn't, now all of you get out of here"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Thank you to everyone who left a review, or followed and or added the story to their favourites list. It means a lot. This chapter will have a lot more interaction between Zola and Sofia with the family.

I realised while writing this chapter, in order for Zola and Sofia to be old enough to be interns, the story has to take place in the 2030's which would put people like Richard and Catherine in their 80s and more than likely not working anymore but I couldn't not have them in the story.

Also, as promised there will be a visit from someone special in Europe. Once again, I apologise for any medical inaccuracies.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any part of the Greys Anatomy universe. All rights belong to Shonda Rhimes, ABC studios and any parent or subsidiary companies of ABC. No copyright infringement is intended. Any similarities to other works on this site or any other site are purely coincidental and not done with any malicious intent. All original characters are of my own creation.

Zola made her way down to the pit by herself to report to April. As expected everyone was looking at her as she made her way through the hospital. She would have probably been concerned if there was nobody gossiping about her arrival, it would probably mean something horrific had happened.

When she entered the ER, it was like entering a whole new world. Of course, she herself had made trips to emergency rooms a few times in her life, the most vivid one being the time her Dad had got hit by a semi and nearly died.

However, being there as a doctor was a completely different sensation. Almost exhilarating. She could almost taste the adrenaline in the air. After a quick glance around the room she saw her aunt over by the nurse's station filling in some charts.

"Dr. Kepner?"

For a moment April didn't recognise her niece's voice and figured it was some idiot intern who didn't know how to search for a pulse. That was until she turned around and a huge smile appeared on her face.

"Zola, oh my God I can't believe you're an intern now, it seems like it was only yesterday you were a kid fascinated by baby Harriet, now you're all grown up and a Doctor. Man am I old or what"

"Just imagine how Mom and Dad feel, I swear I saw mom looking at hair dye in the grocery store the other day to cover up her grey hairs"

Before April could say anything,

"I should not have told you that, say NOTHING to anyone or it is my ass"

"Don't worry Zo I won't, you need help with something or did you just come over to say hey?"

"Not a social trip I'm afraid, Dr. Sanchez has us reporting to you until lunch while she scrubs in on a Wipple with mom"

"Well in that case I suppose I should assign you some work to do, give me a sec"

April scanned her tablet looking for something she could assign Zola"

"Alright let's see, bed one needs bloods, and I need you to check on bed four when the neuro consult arrives and follow up on what neuro want, also I want you to discharge bed seven and twelve"

"Bloods, neuro, discharge got it"

With that Zola disappeared to carry out her work just as Sofia was walking up to meet April.

"Let me guess you need some assignments too?"

"Please"

"Unbelievable, you would think one of nieces would just want to say hello to me"

"Sorry Aunt April, first day and all need to make a good impression"

"Uh huh"

April winked at Sofia before looking down at her tablet to see what she could assign. Just then they were alerted to a trauma two minutes out.

"Alright Sofia, you want to make a good first impression, now is your chance, follow me"

They made it outside after gowning up just as the ambulance arrived.

"15-year-old male, fell of his bike, facial lac, deep forearm lac and a possible fractured ankle. Vitals are all within normal range"

"Alright Dr. Sloan-Torres what do we do?"

After pausing for a second instinct kicked in for Sofia.

"We need to get Neuro down here to exam his head make sure he has no signs of a concussion and rule out the need for a CT, we need to page Ortho to take a look at that ankle, in the mean time we need to elevate and ice it.

Page Plastics as well to take a look at the deep forearm laceration and while they are there the facial laceration".

Not many interns were as cool and collected as Sofia on there first day with their first trauma. Needless to say, April was impressed.

"Excellent, page Neuro and Ortho, Plastics can wait a while until Neuro and Ortho have their say"

Meanwhile as Sofia was out in the ambulance bay Zola was at bed four as her aunt Lexie performed her exam.

"Pupillary reactions are equal, there doesn't seem to be any sign of concussion, still though I want a CT done to check for a bleed"

"I'll take him right now"

Lexie's pager buzzed and she smiled when she saw her daughter's name on screen.

"right I have a consult in trauma 1, page me when you have the results"

Before long, it was lunch and Zola, Sofia and Anastasia were catching each other up on what they had been doing. Zola had summarised her duties and Anastasia had just told them about the sutures she performed on three separate patients when Johnson and Brown arrived to the table.

"Hey Zola, Sofia, we had a chance to think about this morning while charting and we realised we didn't treat either of you fair. We both know you were joint top of your class at Hopkins and deserve positions here more than us"

Johnson nodded along with everything Brown said,

"Yeah John is right we just wanted to apologise and hope that we could start fresh"

Zola and Sofia looked at each other before shoving two chairs out for John and Alex to join them.

"It's going to be a long year as Sanchez's interns if we don't stick together"

Anastasia was the first to break the awkward silence that had settled over the group of surgical newbies.

"Sofia was just about to tell us about the trauma she got to help out Dr. Kepner with"

All four of them focused their attention on Sofia.

"Dr. Kepner was just about to assign me something to do when we got the alert about a trauma two minutes out, then she said if I wanted to make a good first impression now was my chance.

We got the run down from the paramedic and I had to page Nero, Ortho and Plastics. Dr. Grey gave the all clear from Neuro. Dr. Torres wasn't convinced it was a fractured ankle the kid had so made me take him to X-Ray.

She was right it was a break, but it wouldn't do any harm to wait before putting a cast on it so Dr. Sloan sutured both the arm and face lacs. It was like something out of a movie how fast and effortless he made it look".

"What's it like working with your family, I mean you had to work with two of your Moms and Dad on that case, surely that's awkward?"

"Actually, Alex it isn't as bad as you would think, the hardest part was being professional and addressing them as Dr. Grey Dr. Torres and Dr. Sloan and not mama mami and dad"

"Yeah that part is weird when Dr. Grey was examining my CT guy, I nearly called her aunt Lex so many times"

"Does it not get confusing having three moms?"

"It used to when I was younger but I call Dr Torres mami, Dr. Grey mama and Dr. Robbins mom, I know who I mean but depending on whether I'm drunk or how loud I am they get confused as to who I'm calling"

Zola turned to John as he was the only one that hadn't asked a question.

"You're turn John, you got any question about how weird it is?"

"No but I do have a favour to ask you, can you recap the procedure for an appy, I'm petrified Dr. Grey will ask me a question I don't know the answer to during this surgery"

"Sure"

They spent the next fifteen recapping until they saw Meredith leave the canteen and figured they should make their way to the OR.

After they scrubbed in they stood to side of the OR, not wanting to get in anyone's way.

"You are not going to learn anything standing all the way over there, one at a time I want you to come over and look at what I'm doing. Johnson you're up"

Alex Johnson had never felt so much fear in his life, he was about to watch THE Meredith Grey preform an appendectomy.

"Boki, ten-blade"

Boki handed Meredith the scalpel and she made the first incision.

"Now so Dr. Johnson, lets see if you were paying attention to your colleagues earlier. Where have I just made the incision?"

"Over McBurney's point, down past the obliques"

"Very good, it seems that extra bit of studying I saw you doing in the canteen paid off. Never be afraid to ask for help.

You will hear this a lot but this isn't med-school anymore, you aren't working on cadavers. If you need help and don't ask you put your education at risk and more importantly the patients.

It is my job and the job of every attending to ensure that you are getting the best education you can and that the patient is getting the best care they can. The buck stops with me.

That goes for all of you. Johnson step back, Dr. Brown your turn"

That was how the surgery went, Meredith gave each intern as well as their resident time to observe and learn. Before long the surgery was over and they were sent back to the pit.

That was how they spent the rest of their shift until 10pm arrived and they went back to the locker rooms to change.

I don't know about you guys but I could use a drink, Johnson, Brown you up for it?"

"Yeah sounds good"

"Joe's the bar across the street is apparently where everyone goes"

Zola confirmed that John was right about Joe's been the place to be.

"You two going to join us?"

Sofia who was the first one to finish changing answered Alex.

"We would but seeing as we are off until 6pm we planned a celebratory get together with the family. We will see you over there though, Joe's is where we are going anyway"

They all finished getting changed and headed to the bar where they separated, Anastasia, John, and Alex heading to the bar, Sofia and Zola heading for the big area with all their family.

Meredith was the first to pull them into a hug.

"Oh my God I am so proud of you two. I was bursting with pride during rounds this morning it was so hard to remain professional"

One by one they were hugged and congratulated by everyone.

"You think you had it hard Mer, I had each of them presenting me a case in the pit today, if it wasn't for patients I would have jumped up and down like a child"

Mark wrapped his arms around his wife affectionately and kissed her cheek.

"I think it goes without saying all of us who dealt with you both today, were immensely proud, and its safe to say we all need to watch our necks because it a few years it looks like are jobs could be on the line"

They all sat down together, Zola been drawn to her favourite uncle, Alex and Sofia her favourite aunt, Meredith.

"I can't see the harm in telling you this, you are on Peds with me tomorrow, and to quote Arizona, working with tiny humans is very precious, hardcore and badass so do not get too drunk tonight. That being said I've got the next round and we are doing Tequila"

Catherine looked to Richard and laughed, "Alex dear, I think I'm a bit old for tequila, get me a G&T"

Alex nodded to Catherine and turned to Jo, "Come give me a hand"

Jo looked at him and shook her head.

"No way my nieces just finished their first shifts as interns, I'm not leaving their sides until I here everything, unlike most of you I was off today, thanks Meredith for that by the way"

Everyone laughed at that comment and Meredith just shrugged her shoulders. Alex gave her a quick peck on the top of her head before heading to the bar to get the drinks.

Zola was happy to see that even after all these years, after everything they had been through her family were still really close and truly loved each other.

It also didn't skip her notice that even after all these years everyone was still lovey dovey.

Her mom and dad, aunt Lexie and uncle Mark, aunt Arizona and aunt Callie, Grandpa Richard and Grandma Catherine, aunt Bailey and uncle Ben, aunt April and uncle Jackson, aunt Amelia and uncle Owen, aunt Jo and uncle Alex, aunt Maggie and uncle Andrew. The only person missing was aunt Christina who was of course married to Cardio Surgery.

Jo interrupted her from her thoughts. "Tell me everything that happened today"

Before she could answer her mother got a text and raised her hand.

"Hang on a minute Zozo, there is a surprise for the two of you about to come in, tell us then"

Both her and Sofia turned to face the entrance just as none other than Dr. Christina Yang came through the doors. The two of them jumped out of their chairs and practically attacked her.

"What are you doing here?"

"Come on Zozo as if I'm going to miss celebrating you're first day as interns"

"Yeah but how did you know we would even be off on time to even come out, we could have been pulling a double or anything"

Christina scoffed, "Come on Sof, you're a Doctor now, use your brain. Why do you think you are on a double tomorrow night? We all had Richard sort out the schedule weeks ago so we could plan this"

Christina went and gave everyone else a hug and had just finished when Alex and Jo arrived with the tequilas, few pitchers of beer, a club soda for Richard and a G&T for Catherine.

"Evil Spawn how are you"

Pulling her into a hug Alex responded "I was great until you arrived Yang"

Turning around to face Joe, Alex pulled out his wallet. "Alright Joe, what's the damage?"

Joe shook his head and scoffed. "Zola and Sofia's first day as interns and Yang is back for the first time in nearly three years, this round is on me, congratulations Zola and Sofia".

Once everyone had settled down, had their shots and got comfortable they started asking the girls about their first day.

That was how they spent the next few hours until they all went home to get sleep after what was one of the best days of Sofia and Zola's lives.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** My apologies to anyone who had issues reading the last chapter after I updated **it.** Thank you to YMGH to pointing out the issue. I got it fixed as fast as I could. Thank you also to everyone for reading, favouriting, following and leaving reviews.

This chapter will be mainly focus on Meredith. I wanted to post once more as it could be a couple days before I post again as I have family visiting and don't know how much time I will have to write. That being said in will have it up as soon as I can.

I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please feel free to leave a review and let me know if you have any ideas on where you want the story to go, I can't promise anything but if it fits in with my overall plan I am open to suggestions on what you would like to read.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any part of the Greys Anatomy universe. All rights belong to Shonda Rhimes, ABC studios and any parent or subsidiary companies of ABC. No copyright infringement is intended. Any similarities to other works on this site or any other site are purely coincidental and not done with any malicious intent. All original characters are of my own creation.

Meredith walked into the meeting room at promptly 2pm. She walked up toward the top of the table and took her usual seat next to Chief Bailey. Now they were only waiting on Alex to arrive and they could begin.

After about five minutes he arrived. "Sorry I'm late, I got delayed in Surgery, what did I miss?"

Bailey gave him her usual stern look but knew she couldn't give out to him for being late, surgery's have complications and often go longer than intended. "Nothing, we decided to wait for you to arrive"

Looking to Meredith she gave her a nod, "Floor's yours Grey"

"Thank you, Bailey, the reason I called this meeting is because as we all know, the first surgery for the interns is the intern appy. Now normally as Chief of General, I would make the decision by myself as to which intern to choose.

This year, like a few years ago with Dr. Warren-Jones, given my personal ties with Dr. Grey-Shepherd and Dr. Sloan-Torres, I am opening the decision up to a discussion"

Most of the Doctors in the room agreed with her, in fact of them except one.

"I'm sorry Dr. Grey but may I point something out?"

"Of course, Dr. Lachman, go ahead"

"Given that only five of us are the only ones without personal ties to any of the interns, I don't see the point in having this discussion, especially seeing as apart from one day for the experience surgical interns don't spend any time with Path, Derm, Radiology or Anaesthesiology. We would also be far out voted"

Meredith nodded her head, "I completely understand where you are coming from, that thought crossed my mind which is why we are going to discuss the top three from this intern class and once we are all in agreement, all names will be pulled out of a hat"

This seemed to please Dr. Lachman and any other Doctor in the room who had any doubts and hid them, after all given the rest of the doctors in the room were on the Board, Dr. Bailey wasn't the only one they reported to .

"This was a lot easier when the intern appy was performed by the worst intern and used to scare them all into not thinking they're better than they are. It also wasn't a waste of time"

"Yes Dr. Karev you're right it was easier, it was not however better. You know as well as I do that the intern class started performing better when they realised that they could do this without fear of being none as the next 007.

Now by all means if you think you are above this discussion or that we are wasting your time feel free to leave"

It wasn't often Bailey was this cranky, only when something was on her mind but when she was everyone, even Alex knew not to test her. "Sorry Chief"

Feeling sorry for Alex and wanting to get this over with Meredith decided to steer the conversation in a new direction.

"Okay, moving on, I have read all the reports you sent me based on your observations from your days with each group of interns. All the reports were very similar and three names stood out as the front runners from this year's class.

Dr Zola Grey-Shepherd, Dr. Sofia Sloan-Torres and Dr. Anastasia Williams. Unless anyone's opinions have changed or anybody has any objections I say we put these names into a hat now and get this over with?"

Everyone looked around the room to see would anyone object but nobody did so Meredith wrote all three names on a piece of paper, tore it in three, folded them up neatly and put them into a hat that she had worn to work.

"Dr. Lachman, as you are one of the few Doctors in the room who can say with 100% certainty they're objective, would you care to draw the name"

Dr. Lachman reached forward and put her hand in the hat. Shuffling the pieces before pulling one out and looking at it.

"The person preforming this year's intern appy is Dr. Zola Grey-Shepherd"

Everyone in the room clapped in congratulations despite the fact Zola was not in the room. Bursting with pride and joy Meredith turned around to the room.

"Alright unless while we are all together anyone has any issues this meeting can come to an end"

Everyone stood up and started to leave, but not before congratulating Meredith.

Before they left Bailey asked Meredith and Alex to hang back. "I have some patients to check on right now but I need the two of you to meet me in my office in twenty minutes, there is something I need to discuss with you both"

"Alright Chief no worries, I've got to run though, need to make sure the resident I left in charge of the NICU didn't mess up anything"

With that Alex left leaving Meredith and Bailey alone in the meeting room.

"You should probably tell Derek and of course Zola herself"

"Derek yes, Zola no. I'm having Jo do the appy with her, to avoid any thought of parental favouritism"

Bailey nodded her understanding "I see, smart choice, you would think given we are all grown ass adults, people wouldn't give a damn, but they do"

"Anyway, I better go let Jo know and get her to update the board, the appy is scheduled for an hours' time".

Meredith sent a text asking Derek to meet her in her office and he was there when she got there. She wanted to tell him but didn't need to, the huge smile that appeared on her face when she saw him made it obvious.

That smile was a smile seen only for certain occasions, those occasions were anytime she was immensely proud at something one of their children had accomplished, last time he saw it was Zola's first day. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why it was there this time.

"It's Zola, she did it she got the appy didn't she?"

"Yeah, she did, I mean it was by pure chance, to avoid any favouritism her name, Sofia's and Dr. Williams' names were put in my hat and Lachman pulled out ZoZo's but she did it. Derek I'm so proud of our little girl"

Giving his wife a celebratory kiss, he pointed out that sadly she was no longer their little girl, she was now a doctor and in about an hour was going to officially be a surgeon.

"Anyway, I better head away, Amelia wants a consult. I'll see you in the gallery?"

"Yeah see you there"

Derek left her office and Meredith sat at her desk to do some paperwork while waiting for her number two to arrive.

Not five minutes had passed before Jo knocked on the door and stuck her head in, "You wanted to see me Dr. Grey"

Meredith had to supress a laugh, it had been years since Jo became her friend and her number two. Over that time, they had practically become sisters but yet Jo still refused to have a conversation with her during work without addressing her as Dr. Grey

"Yeah Jo, come in."

Jo walked over to her boss' desk and took a seat in front of her.

"I want you to do the intern appy this year"

"What, why?"

"Because Zola's name was pulled out of a hat and she is preforming it, it looks less like favouritism if you supervise"

"Oh my God that's fantastic, does she know"

"No, not yet you get to tell her"

"I wonder will she be my prodigy? I mean after all you chose me for the intern appy"

Meredith laughed so much she snorted a little. "Alright don't get carried away oh precious prodigy, go let her know and update the board, I have a meeting with Alex and the Chief"

"Alex and the Chief?"

Meredith shrugged her shoulders. "I have absolutely no idea, Bailey had us hang back after the department head meeting and asked us to meet her in her office"

"Huh, maybe she is firing you and giving me Chief of General"

"Oh, ha-ha aren't you so funny. Go get out of my office"

With a wink Jo left but not before saying, "Your office for now, could be mine by the end of the day"

Meredith made her way to the Chief's office and ran into Alex on her way. "You any idea what this is about?"

"None, if you weren't here I'd assume I was in trouble"

"Your wife thinks that I'm being fired and that she his being made Chief of General, I could see it in her eyes she was already coming up with plans for redecorating my office"

Knocking on Bailey's door Alex said "Your office could use a renovation"

Bailey opened the door before Meredith could come up with a response. "Come in, sit down, water?"

They both looked at each other sceptically, Bailey was never this nice to anyone, not even her husband or son.

"Are you deaf I said get your asses in here and sit down" That was more like the Bailey they knew.

"Right, I'm sure your both wondering why I asked you here so I will cut to the chase. I raised you both. You are the last two of MY interns and I am damn proud of the people and Doctors you have become. I have a lot of faith in you both

Now I have decided that after over twenty years as Chief of Surgery it is time to do what Richard did, step down and spend more time focusing on Surgery.

Which means the hospital is going to need a new Chief and I have chosen the two of you to recommend to the board as my replacement"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Firstly, as always thank you for the reviews. Secondly, I apologise for the lack of updates over the last two weeks. I intended to only be gone a couple days but I got distracted. This story is the last chapter of this story, but don't worry I am already planning a sequel. It will be a while before the sequel because I have an idea for another story that I need to get on paper, or screen I should say but I will be coming back to the sequel.

Sorry about any grammar or spelling mistakes, I didn't have time to proof read.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any part of the Greys Anatomy universe. All rights belong to Shonda Rhimes, ABC studios and any parent or subsidiary companies of ABC. No copyright infringement is intended. Any similarities to other works on this site or any other site are purely coincidental and not done with any malicious intent. All original characters are of my own creation.

Jo made her way to the cafeteria knowing that Sanchez's interns were on lunch. When she arrived, she looked around the crowded room until she saw who she was looking for.

She walked up to the table the interns were at and when they saw her there was an overall sense of fear emanating from them.

"Good afternoon everyone"

"Hello Dr. Wilson"

"As I am sure you are aware, the honour of preforming the first surgery of every intern class is reserved for the intern who shows the most promise"

Zola looked straight at Sofia with excitement they had both spent the majority of their lives talking and imagining what it would be like to preform surgery for the first time.

As she was speaking she looked at each of them individually until she finally stopped on Zola.

"This year that honour will fall upon Dr. Grey-Shepherd, congratulations, you will scrub in and preform an appy under my supervision this afternoon at 4pm in OR 3"

With that Jo turned around and left, leaving Zola to soak it all in.

"Oh my God Zo that's amazing congrats"

"Sofia is right this is amazing Zola I am so jealous"

Alex was the next to chime in, "Congrats Zola, you must be thrilled"

John smiled at her and said, "What are the odds it would be an appy, you know that surgery like the back of your hand"

Zola just sat there speechless, she didn't think for a million years it would be her, she was sure it would have been Sofia.

"I need to go study, ill see you guys later", with that she got up and with a smile to her friends she left to go study in the tunnels.

Meredith and Alex left Bailey's office in shock. Alex turned around to face Meredith.

"Mer, can you believe this, she is putting us up for Chief of Surgery, looks like Jo was right, she is getting chief of General"

"You planning on firing me so soon Alex?"

Seeing the anger on her face Alex realised Meredith had taken him up wrong.

"What? No of course not, I meant you surely are giving it to her when your Chief"

Feeling bad for snapping at her person She apologised to him before pointing out it could just as well be him that makes Chief and he needs to decide who he is giving chief of Peds to.

"Mer, the job is yours, I don't want it"

Meredith stopped in her tracks shocked.

"What do you mean you don't want it Alex, its Chief of Surgery who doesn't want Chief?"

"I don't want it, it's all paperwork, budgeting and management, I get enough of that with my duties on the Board, besides Bailey has been training you for this job since she got it, you are the next Chief"

"Well not yet it still needs to go to a vote"

"You're kidding right? I assume Bailey will mention it at the Board meeting today and I can't see anyone voting against you, you will be chief by tomorrow"

Finally accepting that she was right, she pulled Alex into a hug. "I'm going to be chief"

Four o clock finally arrived and Zola had just finished scrubbing in, made her way into the OR and looked up to the gallery, she had expected to see nobody but the interns there. Instead she was barely able to see the interns in the swarm of attendings.

Her Mom and Dad, all her aunts and uncles took up most the OR and it was in that moment she realised just how scared she was.

Jo sensing her nervousness got her attention, and in a way that she tried to make sound stern but also supportive said,

"Your job is not to look at the gallery Dr. Grey-Shepherd, your job is down here in this OR with this patient. Take a deep breath, steady yourself and let's start"

Zola took a couple deep breaths made her way to the primary position in front of the table held her hand out and with all the command of a true surgeon said the words she grew up listening to"

"It's a beautiful day to save lives"

Up in the gallery Meredith and Derek were trying their hardest to remain professional as they watched their baby girl officially become a surgeon.

"I wonder which one of ye she learnt to take control of an OR like that from"

Derek turned to face Mark, "I don't think I have ever been so proud of her in my life"

Amelia laughed, "That's because she said your stupid catchphrase"

AS time went on Zola gained more confidence and by quarter to five she was suturing after preforming her first successful surgery once the patient was closed up and on their way to recovery she could hear the entire gallery erupt in applause.

She had never felt so much pride as she did in that moment.

Later that evening all member of the board were in conference room A, having their weekly meeting.

Once everyone was seated and the minutes from the previous meeting were gone over Bailey stood up.

"After a lot of thought, I have decided it is time for me to step down as Chief of Surgery, I want to get back into Surgery itself, with that said I would like to nominate Meredith and Alex to be in the running for my replacement"

For a moment there was silence, Meredith and Alex were the only ones who knew this was coming. After a second to process the news Jackson was the first to say anything.

"Okay then, first of all Bailey I want to thank you for your years of service as our Chief, you have done an excellent job.

Secondly unless anyone has any objections or would like to throw their hat in the ring as well I propose that we have Alex and Meredith give us a presentation on why they should be our next Chief for next week's meeting"

"Actually, I want to take my name out of the running, I really appreciate your confidence in me Bailey, really I do. I just have no interest in being Chief.

I think Meredith is perfect for the job, she has been Bailey's right hand as long as Bailey has been Chief and I don't think we are going to find anyone more suited for the role"

There was a lot of mummering around the table before Lexie spoke up.

"It doesn't look like anyone else is stepping into the ring as Jackson said, and I agree with Alex. I think Meredith is perfect for the job, I say we just put it to a vote"

Everyone agreed and one by one Meredith received a unanimous vote of confidence.

"All right then, its settled congratulations Chief Grey"

Everyone in the room clapped and Derek looked like he had to be in pain given how big the smile on his face was.

Just like that Seattle Grace Mercy West had a new Chief of Surgery and the future looked bright.

 **A/N:** This chapter is a very small chapter. To be honest as I said in the first A/N, I have been working on another story that I am more excited about than this one. That being said I didn't want to leave this one unfinished so I decided to do one last small chapter. The sequel is under planning at the moment, but will not be published until after my next story.

I want to thank everyone for reading, favouriting, following and reviewing. It truly means a lot and I hope you will enjoy my next Greys fic as well.


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